Biomarkers come of age: PD1 in the frontline and cell cycle therapy swells the ranks of personalised therapy in the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) congress, Copenhagen, 7–10 October 2016

After years of trials, Programmed Death Ligand and Receptor targeting finally debuts as a firstline therapy in combination and as a single agent regimen at the 2016 European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress. The meeting brought together 20,522 attendees, from over 120 countries, to share updates and novel technologies from a wide swathe of oncology research. This year’s theme, From Disease Treatment to Patient Care, was matched by abstract presentations starting from inception of care regimens to new standards of care in high-risk patient subgroups, to wellbeing of care providers, and finally the funding obstacles at each continental level.